If in doubt, double down. Seven years ago President Donald Trump ordered 10% tariffs on US imports of aluminum with the stated aim of increasing domestic primary metal production. They haven’t worked. This time the tariff is going to be 25% without “exceptions or exemptions” effective March 4. Together with a similar-sized duty on steel imports,...
Trump’s Energy Czar Can Unleash Energy Dominance With Carbon Capture
Last week, the Senate voted to confirm former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior. As Secretary and expected chair of the soon-to-be-established National Energy Council, Burgum has promised to follow President Trump’s directive to increase oil and gas production. But, if Burgum’s unique record is any indication, his approach might also involve carbon...
Meet Chris Wright, Donald Trump’s Energy Evangelist
The GOP has spent the many hot years of Washington’s climate wars on defense, unable to articulate a positive alternative to the left’s grim new religion. It’s offered critiques—climate change isn’t real; climate change is overhyped; climate policies are costly, ineffective, stalking horses for government control—but never a rousing alternative. Into this unholy war steps...
With Trump 2.0, These Climate Donors Are Thinking Differently
Three days after President Trump formally ordered a U.S. departure from the Paris Agreement, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced that it would step in alongside other unnamed donors to cover the country’s funding and disclosure obligations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, whose job it is to implement the climate deal made in the French capital...
Low-Energy Fridays: Is the National Energy Council a good idea?
After his electoral victory, President Donald J. Trump announced the formation of a “National Energy Council” that will coordinate energy and environment-related activities within the administration—though the specifics of when this may arrive and in what form are still unknown. This prompts two thoughts: First, this is going to make for very confusing acronyms since the...
How to Manage the Forest to Make It Easier to Manage the Fires
It’s impossible to know the devastation of a wildfire until you’ve lived it. Headlines and news clips provide a glimpse, but they cannot replicate the feeling of smoke in your lungs, seeing flames race towards you, or feeling the char and ash of destruction left in its wake. This year is already off to a...
What is “Fire Culture”, Why it’s Coming For City Folks, and What Can We Do About It
Though progress has been made, multiple fires continue to burn throughout Los Angeles, with at least 5,000 structures destroyed or damaged and an estimated $57 billion worth of losses. Families have lost their homes, and mom-and-pop businesses have been destroyed. This wasn’t supposed to happen to urban areas.
Reflecting on Eight Years of Conservative Clean Energy
I just celebrated my eighth anniversary running Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES). This milestone represents eight years of working to ensure Republicans have a seat at the table to discuss the benefits of unleashing American energy while lowering emissions. During this time, I witnessed three presidential elections—each with its own nuances—and saw their impact...
Poland and Canada sign nuclear power cooperation agreement
Poland and Canada have signed an agreement that provides a legal framework for more intensive cooperation on nuclear power, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday after meeting his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau. Poland, which is working to reduce its reliance on coal, has chosen Westinghouse Electric to build its first nuclear plant on...
Defense + Energy = Trump’s National Energy Emergency
Among the raft of executive actions in the first days of his second term, President Trump issued several related to energy and the climate. This included the declaration of a “National Energy Emergency.”